This is just another attempt by O'Bama and his minions to scare the nation. Check the FAA's website which shows that everything is ontime (15 mins or less) http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp">http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfa a/usmap.jsp

Controller #3: Get me Steve McCroskey!Controller #2: Are you kidding? Ever since Reagan fired the air traffic controllers, he's been completely senile!Controller #3: Yeah, but what about McCroskey?Controller #2: About the same as Reagan.

jaybeezey:Endive Wombat: I'm just gonna ask the question that I think sounds a bit conspiracyish, but needs to be asked...

Could some of these delays, shut downs, and the like that are coming from the sequester be caused by those actually writing the schedules of the employees? So, purposely under-scheduling to get a point across or "protest"/prove a point?

I know it sounds a bit nuts, but I can totally see this happening.

What's telling here is that the only cuts have been to overtime.

So you have to ask yourself these questions:

1) How much was being spent in OT pay?2) How much would it have cost them to just hire more people to provide the needed coverage at regular time hours?3) How many terrorist attempts have they foiled in the time since implementation?4) Are they needed at all?

1) and 2) are knowable.

3) is unmeasurable by any reasonable measure therefore requiring logical fallacy to draw any conclusions.

4) the "they" you are referring to is the TSA (I assume). We do know that airport security is required. Whether it be federally administered or privately administered is the question. Right now by law it's federally administered. In either case they're needed. I doubt you'll find many advocates wanting to fly without security.

Now, to think about this in the right way, the government is subsidizing everyone's air travel in this country. If people wanted shorter lines at the airport then they should be willing to pay for it in their ticket costs. Security, fuel, maintenance, personnel... Those are all costs to doing business.

So the real question here to ask is - how much economic benefit does the rest of the country get by having the federal government pay for the security and ATC components of those costs rather than letting those costs pass directly to the consumer?

So if you're a fan of smaller government, the choice for you here should be simple. Smaller government as long as you're willing to pay for it.

wildcardjack:For some reason I studied and learned to be an Air Traffic Controller. Lo and behold the entire time I was training the FAA wasn't authorized as an agency and wasn't hiring controllers. I get my CTO license the same month the FAA get reauthorized, about 90 days before my 32nd birthday when I become too old for the FAA.

I've felt bitter towards the people that told me to go study ATC, and walked out on that private student loan and I think they've let it go because I'm not part of the lawsuits. But this whole sequester mess makes me glad I don't have a federal job. I think it might even be full on schadenfreude.

Yes, you deluded little fool. This entire thing is completely orchestrated just to get the FAA back for not hiring you. Goddamn do you suffer from megalomania.